U.K government sell-down may not generate profits, but taxpayer should benefit

Royal Bank of Scotland is nowhere near making a profit for the U.K. taxpayer: but that doesn’t mean selling some shares is a bad idea.

Cutting the government’s near-80% stake should create a better market for RBS shares by increasing the float and giving investors reason to bother assessing its worth. But just as importantly, it will return money to the state that can be used to cut public debt—and the costs of servicing it—and so allow the government to invest in other things instead.